Hey everyone, A bit of backstory so you understand my situation. So I am a new freshly graduated teacher this year. In order to get a job in my province I needed to move to a smaller rural community about 2 hours from my partner and all of my friends. Even farther from my family. So for September I did that. I thought it would be fine, I would get through my one year temp contract and move back in June. This is not the case. I am struggling... I have been making the drive back to my old city almost every weekend. My partner has been coming and staying with me between work. I am concerning miserable right now. I have been spending a lot of time crying which is highly unusual for me. I will be spending time with friends or my partner but when it comes time to go I get the huge crunch in my chest and I ball my eyes out. This started infrequently and now it has progressed to every time. I don't mind my job, I like my school the students the other teachers. I just hate living in this different town. I struggle with making friends and building connections it's difficult in a small area. Of course it's relatively homophobic as well which makes me even more hesitant. I'm at a loss I'm really not sure what I can do. I'm worried I'll hit a breaking point and will develop worse and worse. I am considering leaving my job and moving back. Either with my parents or back to the city where I have good supports from other queer people and my partner lives. I just don't know. How bad will it look to quit my job? (Of course giving proper notice, conversations, etc.) I've never been in this position before and I really just need some help. Teaching is a tricky profession. I am very unhappy right now and I am just not sure how to proceed with out sabatoging my career. I am fresh out of university. The other option is just putting on a brave face and sticking too it. I need to develop some strategies for coping with this distance. I can't be crying and upset all the time. It is draining and difficult on me. Any advice would be great
For a career path that nearly every place in the US seems to be always understaffed, it is odd how hard it is to get a job in teaching. My wife had a similar problem, as she worked too long as a pera or aid in the district she went to college at, they just refused to hire her as a teacher. The next district had shitty politics and she only got a contract for one year and then nothing. We ended up having to move to a different state before she found a school district that would actually hire her. Moving is tough, even if you are used too it. I'm not a fan and I have done it lots of time, moving away for college was an adventure and a nightmare. My advice is to sit down maybe with a sheet of paper and work out your long term goals. Missing friends and your partner is hard, but you do need to focus on what you want in the next five years. You will need the experience to help you find a district you want to move to and teach in for a long time. The short term satisfaction might make long term happiness harder to achieve A year or two of distance might make a better opportunity open up where you really want to be.
Do you have any professors or mentors that you trust that you could talk through about this that could give you advice on this works in teaching? My first instinct is that it would be better for you to stick out your first year and then look for a new job rather than leaving this school when you've only just started. I don't think that's going to look good on your resume. Teaching jobs are few and far between, and it might look like you didn't consider the placement well enough before you started. Potential schools might look at that and worry that you're going to realize that they're not a good spot for you either and leave them in the middle of the year. But I'm not in teaching, so definitely talk to someone that is if you can.
This. Depends largely on the industry, but might be better to suck it up for one year. Definitely ask around with a mentor for some advice. Another thing that I have done in the past is securing a job before I leave the other one. If you are able to explain to them that the move is out of your control due to family matters, then they will be more understanding and they will be reassured that you will be there longer due to the family that brought you there in the first place. I had to do that once when I quit a job after 5 months. Hates the place. After talking with a mentor he offered me a job and I was able to quit without having to wait the whole year.
